This teen receives National STEM Education Award 2019 for her invention to improve brain cancer treatment

A 19-year-old India American teenager has conferred with the 2019 National STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education Award for her contribution to the medical field.

The teen, Kavya Kopparapu from Herndon, Virginia received the award of $10,000 for her groundbreaking invention, which is designed to improve treatments for Glioblastoma, also called GBM and glioblastoma multiforme, which is the deadliest form of brain cancer.

As per The American Bazaar, the award was given by STEM Education US, as the authority recognised the teen as an extraordinarily talented and accomplished individual, who "meaningfully promoted STEM education."

Kavya, a Harvard University student of computer science and biology has invented GlioVision, which is a precision medicine platform powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) that can predict brain tumour characteristics in just a fraction of time and cost of common methods by using a scanned image of a biopsy rather than a sample of DNA.

There is no doubt that the invention of GlioVision is a major step towards the treatment of patients, who are suffering from cancer that required a deep learning computer system to determine the molecular and genetic signature of a brain tumour with 100 percent accuracy.

The social entrepreneur, Kavya was not only recognized for her brilliant invention to battle a rare but dangerous disease, but she also encouraged others to pursue their expertise in STEM-related fields.

She is the founder and the CEO of Girls Computing League, which is a non-profit organisation that raised more than $100000 for computer science programming, which impacts more than 3800 American students.

Here are some facts about Glioblastoma, which is unknown to many:

These are the fastest growing glial tumours, which commonly spreading into nearby brain tissue. As per the data from the National Cancer Institute, the GBM tumours tend to occur in adults between the ages of 45 and 70.

Symptoms:

Persistent headaches

Double or blurred vision

Vomiting

Loss of appetite

Changes in mood and personality

Changes the inability to think and learn

New onset of seizures

Speech difficulty of gradual onset

Treatment:

Surgery is required to remove as much of the tumour as possible without injuring the surrounding normal brain tissue. In many cases, surgeons perform a craniotomy, which means opening the skull to reach the tumour site.

After the surgery, when the wound is healed radiation can be performed and chemotherapy is also required.